Words that start with F

A group of planes, cars, trucks or ships is called a fleet.
Fleet is also another word for fast or quick.

A fletcher is a person who makes arrows.

Flew is the past tense of fly. For example, "a bird flew past my window".

Flies is the plural of fly, or indicates that something is flying.
The cow in the picture has a lot of flies on its face.

A flipper is an arm, leg or wing of an animal that lives in the sea. Flippers have been adapted for swimming and look very much like fish fins. Flippers can be seen on animals like whales, dolphins, seals and penguins.

Something floats if you put it on the top of a liquid like water and it stays on the top.

Things float because they are less dense than the liquid they are in. For example, the duck in the picture floats because the amount of duck that is below the water level weighs less than the amount of water that would be where the duck is - a concept called displacement.

If you are in a swimming pool with a foam kickboard that floats, try holding it under the water. You can also try this with a ping-pong ball or a polystyrene foam ball in a big bowl of water. It is very hard to get something that floats to go under the water, and if you hold it right down and then let it go it might even pop right out of the water! It is this force that holds floating things up.

The opposite of float is sink.

A flood is water covering or submerging land. Floods can happen when it rains faster than the ground can soak up the water or let it run away, or by a rising river that bursts its banks. Floods can also be caused by very high tides or storms that push seawater inland.

A floor lamp is a tall lamp that stands on the floor. They might have one or many lights. You most often see floor lamps next to a sofa, or near a desk to give a room soft light or help you to read.

Flora is another word for plants as opposed to animals, which are called fauna. It is usually used when you are talking about plants from a particular area, for example "the native flora of Oregon".

Florida, abbreviated to FL, is a state in the south east of the United States of America. The capital of Florida is Tallahassee. Florida is also called the Sunshine State.